An integrated circuit chip mounted on a substrate with the use of wire bonding to connect the integrated circuit chip to the substrate has been a staple practice in the chip packaging industry. As the consumer demand grows for more slim mobile devices, chip-packaging structures must also reduce in size, especially the package height, to meet the slim device trend.
A conventional packaging solution is disclosed in U.S. Published Application 2003/0201535, and is shown in FIG. 1. The package 1 includes an image sensor chip 2 bonded to an organic package substrate 3, where the chip 2 is electrically connected to the substrate 3 by bond wires 4. The bond wires 4 are encapsulated by resin 5 and then again by an encapsulant 6, while leaving the active area 7 of chip 2 exposed. The active area 7 is enclosed by a transparent element 8. The image sensor chip 2 is affixed to substrate 3 by adhesive 9. Off package electrical conductivity is achieved using solder balls 10.
The problem with this package configuration is that its size, and its height in particular, cannot be scaled down as desired.